What is "the secret heart" and "inward being"?

[Jash Comstock]

I was reading the 51st Psalm today, and paused at verse 6, "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart". I must say I am pretty confused here. Are these two phrases "secret heart" and "inward being" simply referring to the soul? Is this language used elsewhere in Scripture? From what I understand David starts by acknowledging that God desires brutal honesty in this "secret heart" and after we are honest with ourselves and Him, he will teach us truths.. Any help?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Jash,
Much of biblical Hebrew poetry is parallel-construction. Antithetic parallel juxtaposes two opposing ideas, such as "the righteous are X // but the wicked are Y."

Synthetic parallel situates two complementary ideas. It may be two ways of saying essentially the same thing, so it reduplicates a single idea. Or, it may build in the second line upon the first, and so offer a fuller statement than one line alone.

The verse you refer to is of the synthetic variety. The inner-man and the heart are frequently synonymous terms, but in fact "heart" (LEB, see v10 for an instance) isn't found in the Hebrew here, only the word "hidden" (biblical Hebrew poetry is very terse). So "heart" has been supplied by an English translator.

Thus, "inner" and "hidden" are parallel ideas in the verse. Truth and wisdom are also parallel. The lines reinforce, but also enrich the whole concept.

I would not head in the direction of "first I get real honest with myself, and then God rewards that work with a blessing." I need to love the truth, because God is truth; he delights in truth, I want him to delight in me. David's sins involved lots of lying, lies polluted him, disrupting his trusting relationship with God. He had to give up those lies. The Lord wanted truth in David's soul, and so he had to teach wisdom to him there. This came through Fatherly discipline.

 

[SinnerSavedByChrist]

Apples of Gold again from Rev Buchanan. Thank you!!!

 

[Jash Comstock]

Thank you Rev. Buchanan. You helped clarify it very well! I appreciate it!

 

[Sovereign Grace]

I was reading the 51st Psalm today, and paused at verse 6, "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart". I must say I am pretty confused here. Are these two phrases "secret heart" and "inward being" simply referring to the soul? Is this language used elsewhere in Scripture? From what I understand David starts by acknowledging that God desires brutal honesty in this "secret heart" and after we are honest with ourselves and Him, he will teach us truths.. Any help?

I think a few verses in Romans 7 go along with this in Psalms 51:

Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Apostle Paul in the verses leading up to verse 22 is writing about his struggles with his flesh(don't we all!!). The flesh, after salvation, still has the stain of sin all over it, and it wars with our renewed soul, that has been made alive in Christ Jesus the Lord. So, we too, battle the same battles that Apostle Paul did. We rejoice inwardlly, every time we hear the name Jesus, receive understanding from Him when we have been searching for an answer in the bible, etc.